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Sunday, May 31, 2009

After several days of non-stop raining, it is time to get out of the house and get some fresh air (or at least what 's left of that in Hong Kong). My friend invited me for a little outing to Lamma Island and I accepted without much hesitation. The following blog focuses on the food aspect of my trip and if you are interested in my outing highlights (ie: a cat on a leash?!) , check out my other blog @ http://jason-cestmoi.blogspot.com/.

It was my first time to Lamma Island and i have heard alot about its hiking trails and seafood; but we were not very certain about the quality of the seafood so we decided to go there and check it out first. We started out trip from the Yung Shue Wan (榕樹灣) towards the direction of Sok Kwu Wan (索罟灣). About 15 - 20 mins into the walk, we came by a dessert hut famous for its Tofu Fa.

(1) Kin Hing Tofu Dessert (建興亞婆豆腐花)

This place is famous for its tofu fa but seriously, I really don't see why. In my humble opinion, a good tofu fa requires the following elements: (1) a rich soya taste (2) good texture (smooth but firm as well) (3) a good syrup plus yellow powder sugar. The only element I can find from the tofu fa is the smoothness, that was it. Very light soya taste but strong burnt taste likely a result from the lack of stirring during the cooking process. Also, it was so "liquid" like jello with too much water. I could not even finish the whole thing. Maybe it was just this time that the tofu fa was not up to standard but a single failure of inconsistency is enough for me to have such harsh words. I had better tofu fa all over HK, for example, Tang Dynasty (唐朝) in TST even though it does not offer the yellow sugar powder (make sure you order the bucket one).

======================================(2) Concerto Inn (浪濤軒)

As we moved along, we passed by the beach Hung Shing Yeh Wan (洪聖爺灣) where we stopped for a little break at a beach side restaurant named Concerto Inn (浪濤軒). Nothing really special about their drinks but the so-called Singaporean Satay Chicken was pretty good. It was a nice little break overlooking the beach. I did not copy down the address but you will find this place for sure because there is only one major path from Yung Shue Wan (榕樹灣) to Sok Kwu Wan (索罟灣).

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(3) Herboland 香草原

After a 45 mins break we continued our walk. Just before we were heading away from the beach, we saw something surprising, something we rarely see in Hong Kong. We saw a little plantation with a cozy hut where people relax and have tea.

By the end of the walk / hike, we passed by the many seafood restaurants but we left Lamma Island without trying the famous seafood because (1) it was pretty early when we finished the walk and there was nothing else to walk around when we reached Sok Kwu Wan (索罟灣); and (2) I really hated those restaurants staffs coming up to your face literally to solicit their seafood and blah blah blah. It was annoying and just pissed me off. So instead of staying there for dinner, we decided to head back to TST to eat Indian at Chung King Mansions (重慶大廈).

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(4) Khyber Pass (咖喱王)

[note: they are all called 咖喱王 there, so the address is important !]Good that we know our way otherwise it would be a while before we can find Block E. It was my first time here and the place seems cozy enough and of a typical Indian restaurant at Chung King Mansions. It is a bit ghetto but it is as expected so can't really compliant. The first thing I ordered was a glass of Mango Lassi to cure my thirst. We were Nan bread fans so we called both Cheese Nan and also plain Nan. The Cheese Nan was nice but more cheese would be even better. It can be served without anything but itself as a starter if you want. In order to accompany the plain Nan, we ordered the Lamb Masala (med spiciness) and a Fish Madras (little spiciness). The lamb was surprisingly tender while the fish was surprisingly hard. The two dishes were of two different types of curry. The Masala is more like spicy gravy paste while the Madras is the tpyical yellow curry. I personally prefer the Madras curry because it is less spicy but I found the Masala's aftertaste richer, a good match with the Nan.

In addition to Nan, I am also a big fan of Indian Style Basmati Rice (3 colours rice) because I think it goes really well with curry. The Basmati Rice here were cooked with chicken oil which certainly enhanced its flavor. For some reason the grain they used was the shorter kind. Overall it was alright. It was a very fulfilling day indeed. The only negative thing I can think of is that even after exercising / sweating for the whole day, not only did I not lose any weight, I might have gained some from the dinner !!!